“[From the descendants of Judah]…
…Maaseiah…the son of Adaiah son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, a descendant of Shelah…
Nehemiah 11:5b
Last time we looked at some descendants of Maaseiah, reveling that we get to be active participles of the Ultimate Seer. Seeing and living out His Word in a broken world. Today we continue on with family names.
First up is Adaiah whose name means “Yah has ornamented himself” from Yah and adah (adorn, pass on, advance, deck self, pass by, take away, to remove, to bedeck.)
The first verse about adorning which popped into my head refers to a wedding.
I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10
The beauty of being adorned with garments of salvation and robes of righteousness – His righteousness. However, this is not the only reference to adorning. You know which other verse uses it? When God finally answers Job:
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:
“Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
“Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?
Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
Job 10:6-10
A much less sweet verse, no? But when Yah bedecks Himself, it is with fearsome glory. He will take away all pride, remove our overconfident ideas of self-righteousness. Those doing injustice should tremble. Anyone trampling on the weak ought to run and hide, if they could.
“For I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery and wrongdoing…”
Isaiah 61:8a
And that’s not all. The next relative of Maaseiah is Joiarib, which means “the LORD contends.” It’s from Yhvh and rib – to strive, contend, argue, complain, dispute, quarrel, judge, plead case, reprimand, chide, lay wait, to grapple, to wrangle, to defend, debate, rebuke, strive thoroughly.
Some of those synonyms seem positive: contend, plead case, to defend. Others are too relatable in my heart: argue, complain, debate, quarrel. And still others, especially when applied to Yahweh, are pretty intense: dispute, judge, reprimand, chide, lay wait, rebuke, strive thoroughly.
When you think of the Most High in this context, what comes to mind? A petty and critical human version of God? Or a majestic, all-seeing Judge Who governs in Love? May we come to know Him as the latter, even when He is reprimanding us and striving thoroughly for His best in our lives.
The next relative is Zechariah, whose name we have recently visited in our study of Nehemiah. So let’s focus on the following relative, Shelah, whose name comes from shalah (to draw out, extract, take away, remove, to fall.) It is related to two other Hebrew words – shalal (take spoil, plunder) and nashal (to slip or drop off, draw off, clear away, cast out, loose, slip, pluck off, put off.)
What is He drawing out in your life? Anything He is telling you is better to pluck out than to continue on in disobedience? Me, too. The good news is when He draws things out, it is so He can clear it away to work in your life. He extracts to remove, like a masterful surgeon.
We soak in certain mixtures to draw out toxins. Not to wallow that they were there, but to move forward in better health. He draws off so we can put off the old self and put on the new, taking with us spoil from a war with our enemy. He never removes without also renewing. As He draws out evil amidst the Church, may we cooperate with the renewing.
And one more thing is true in this drawing out. Not only does the Spirit draw out sinful habits and systems in our individual and corporate lives, He also draws out giftings and movements and righteous anger. Sometimes it takes something big to shake us from our complacency.
When we see abuse, it can draw out a resolve to hold accountable, to restructure what is systemically broken. We we watch blatant injustice, we can wake up to our privilege and join the fight for righteousness. When we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, it can draw out worship and an experiential realization we need not fear evil.
And when we look around at the myriad ways to serve, the Spirit can activate the giftings He gave and draw us in to join His Work.